Wednesday, July 16, 2014

THC vs CBD - Fact vs Fiction

Last week the Vancouver Province ran a front page article about the new legal pot stores opening up in Washington. The first thought that came to mind was disappointment. I agree no one should go to jail for pot but I am very concerned about the change in social perception of pot use and abuse. BC bud is much more powerful than homegrown was 30 years ago. On top of that people are smoking it much more often - every day and often several times a day. That is excessive.

Part of the obsession is the twisted claims of the medicinal uses of pot. Anything that gets you baked, stoned or wasted, isn't good for you. This huge misconception that "pot cures cancer" is perpetuating the false belief that pot smoke isn't bad for you when in reality it's worse than cigarette smoke. All smoke is bad for you. That's why the leading cause of death in house fires is smoke inhalation.

So my first thought that comes to mind when I see all the pot heads lining up for miles to buy legal pot is disappointment. The pot obsessiveness is in my opinion no different than soma in Brave New World. The drug that tranquilized the masses to appease them into letting the state remove their civil liberty. Smoking pot every day is excessive. Smoking pot while driving or when you're pregnant is irresponsible.

California was the first state to legalize prescriptions for medicinal marijuana. Yet they voted no in the referendum to outright legalize pot. Clearly just because Washington and Colorado said yes doesn't mean we have to. California said no for good reason.

The second thought was a breakthrough in understanding the medicinal value of pot. One of the pictures in the Vancouver Province article was of the labeling on the new legal pot packages. It listed the percent content of THC but also listed the percent content of CBD. That caused me to look up to see just what CBD is.

CBD is something that's in pot that actually does have medicinal properties. It supposedly helps with seizures. Cannabidiol is a non-psychoactive oil made from marijuana plants. Oil that is high in CBD but low in THC does appear to help treat epilepsy. However, this type of pot, just like hemp, won't get you stoned because it's low in THC.

The package in the top picture states the THC content is 10.8% while it only has a trace amount if CBD. That means it's recreational pot not medicinal. The purpose of smoking that pot is to get you stoned. "Cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound in cannabis that has medical effects but does not make people feel 'stoned' and can actually counter the psychoactive effects of THC. After decades in which only high-THC Cannabis was available, CBD-rich strains are now being grown by and for medical users." Projecy CBD

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nearly-naked-man-allegedly-kidnapped-found-at-b-c-crash-scene-1.2710221Aside. Another what?I am currently in Saskatoon, and have just past the Millet Town Marijuana bust!Every City I have gone through, there is obvious street Drug Trafficking problems!Your article here hits the most crucial points. Time is not on the law abiding civilians side and it is only going to get WORSE!

my sister and nephew both have cancer (lung and liver respectively) they are going the traditional western medicine route, but also supplementing it with CBD which has shown good results especially with the rare type of liver cancer my nephew has. I say, bring it on! it is unfortunate that the retarded "420, dude" stoners are casting their dumb shadow over the potential benefits of this possible boon for health and treatment of disease. I used to smoke pot all the time, but I've grown bored of it and prefer a clear head, I have zero patience for stoners and their misinformed biases, but anything that can help treat cancer is OK by me. hell, i don't like heroin addicts either, it doesn't mean that opioids have no value in controlled medical applications.

also, I wish that they would either legalize the sh*t for recreational use or continue having it prohibited. I have teenagers at home and this "grey area" of legality we exist in simply sends mixed messages to my kids. I don't like it. just make it respectable and more likely than not it will quickly become "uncool" for teens and they will finally start working harder in school, cleaning up after themselves at home, and maybe discover a little ambition in their lives. of course, maybe not because...teenagers. *sigh*

Without question supplementing traditional medical treatment with CBD is totally worth while. That stuff doesn't get you stoned. However, if you think the grey area is bad now wait to see what happens if it becomes legal. All the chronic pot smokers will party hardy and they'll take a multitude of young kids with them. BTW the science declares that adolescents shouldn't smoke pot because it stunts their brain's development.

Interesting story in today's Province about a 6 year old with a rare type of epilepsy, where he was having 60 seizures a day, lasting 4-5 minutes each. He's allowed to have pot by Health Canada, but is supposed to either smoke or vaporize it. Instead, his parents send the CBD pot to Montreal, where its extracted into coconut oil. Then the parents send the oil to a lab where its analyzed to determine the amounts of CBD and THC in it, so they know how much to give the child, and so they can monitor his dosage. This needs to be made legal. Very complicated just to give a kid the medicine he needs. Kudos to the parents!

CBD needs to be made available more widely, and in a more professional manner, in Canada.

Cannabis is an effective medicine for other ailments and conditions, not just epilepsy. CBD is an effective relief for sufferers of seizures, cancer patients who require a stimulated appetite benefit from THC and yet others such as chronic pain from multiple sclerosis benefit from the combination of THC and CBD. Smoking pot that is high in THC does make sense for some, it also adds relief.

I can accept that pot can ease the pain of chemotherapy. As long as we remember that is what it's being used for. The chemotherapy kills the cancer and the pot eases the pain of chemotherapy. The Brave New World of potheads claim pot cures cancer not chemotherapy which is absurd. Bob Marley died of cancer.